


inevitable

by infernum



Series: there’s lessons you learn, bridges you burn [3]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Character Death, F/M, Gen, Gun Violence, I mean I do but it's a surprise for you, Non-Graphic Violence, Swearing, no beta we die like men, who died? WHO DIED? I DON'T KNOW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-03-04 22:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18821602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infernum/pseuds/infernum
Summary: He really wasn't expecting it, didn't know it would happen, wasn't ready for the the resounding—Bang.





	inevitable

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all don't even @ me about this bc I don't even know ok....... blame the writers for that teaser for the finale with Beth with Rio's gold gun I'm not coping well and I don't know what she's doing in the show so this was born from my panic and coffee induced fear mongering fic.
> 
> Let me know in the comments who you think got shot... or if anyone got shot at all. Or maybe just let me know that I'm an asshole!
> 
> (Also I know Rio might seem a bit OOC with the way he acts but, to be fair, Beth has a gun on him and she isn't hesitating like she did in her house all those months ago and Rio is also sort of competing with Turner about who wins over her trust so........ bear with me. Our fave gang king is nervous and all to aware that she's hit The Point Of Breaking soooooooo)

The funniest thing about all this is, despite everything hitting the fan and turning it into an absolute mess, he ain’t even that mad at Elizabeth. He’s more mad at himself. He put himself in this damn mess, calling her a boss bitch, letting her in on the action—it’s just about the dumbest thing he’s ever done. This is some next level dumbass decision making. Hell, this all started way back when he found her pearls hanging on the warehouse door and had the three suburban moms enter his work life. So, really, this is all his own fault, but if he had the hindsight before to even guess what would happen he can honestly say he would never have guessed this: Elizabeth standing in front of him, mascara smudged and running down her ruddy cheeks, voice cracking like her lungs are folded in on themselves, and his own damn gun pointed right at him.

She’s ever so slightly shaking, small tremors working its way through her body from head to toe, but they don’t work down her arms right to her hands. The gun is steady. This moment is probably the steadiest her hands have ever been around him. He tried coaxing out a boss bitch he thought was inside her for some time, tried to find that final sliver of darkness deep inside her and guide it out into the real world—it’s ironic that it’s ripping its way out now. He would laugh at the situation if he didn’t think it would make Elizabeth pull the trigger out of embarrassment and resentment. He’s treated her like shit, like asshole car man did, and now he’s paying for it a hell of a lot more than car man ever did. Maybe if she follows through with him—after she kills him and probably disposes his body properly because she’s dealt with that whole body business—then she’ll head straight to Dean and get rid of him too. Maybe this is the catalyst for Queen Elizabeth to make her way into the world she’s been trying to force her way in for so long.

Shit, he’s actually nervous. No, wait, he’s past nervous—he’s got the tiniest bit of fear settling at the base of his spine, crawling its way up and into the base of his skull, working its way into his head and filling him with the beginning stages of adrenaline. He’s not felt like this since a few years ago when someone tried for his crown with a sniper aimed at his son during one of his football games. God knows how he found out about Marcus but he didn’t live longer than a minute after he cornered Rio; the sniper lasted another four minutes after that. Point being is he’s starting to get scared of what she’s gonna do. He knows he’s pushed her to this point, so the blame is still on him, but the line is getting muddier with each minute that passes.

He tries clearing his throat, but he half chokes his mouth is so dry. “Elizabeth—”

“No. You don’t get to speak,” she cuts him off and she doesn’t choke. She’s firm where she stands and the tremor have stopped. “You don’t get to have a say after everything you’ve done. You’ve ruined my life! So... no, you don’t speak right now.” She’s breathing hard and adjusting her grip on his gun, index finger shifting on the trigger ever so slightly and it makes him shuffle on his feet, moving one back as if to make a break for it. He won’t run though. He’s still the king even if his position is on the fence depending on how this all plays out. A king don’t run from threats, that’s what his dad taught him, right before he got killed.

He nods at her, slowly and carefully, trying not to spoil her with any sudden movements. She’s at a point between a deer in the headlights and a lioness prepared to strike for the kill. That thought he had of Elizabeth being a strong but docile mama bear was wrong. She’s so much more dangerous than that and it’s burning him from the inside out that he didn't recognise it inside her before.

“I can’t believe you—I don’t understand—” she’s stumbling over her words while the arm that’s carrying the gun get tighter and readjusts her aim, “I worked my ass off for you. All three of us did, and you threw me—us—away like it was _nothing_. Like it meant absolutely nothing at all and—” her jaw clenched like she’s holding back whatever she was gonna say next. She’s staring right into his soul like she did that night in the bathroom, like she did over the bar in the mirror, but this time she’s in complete control and there’s no room for anything but hostility and disrespect. He’s got to say something before that all goes away and she pulls the trigger.

“I know but, Elizabeth, none of you were delivering and—and it all got messed up so bad. I can’t keep people who cause more trouble than good. It’s just business—”

“Yes, I heard you last time. It’s just work, that’s all.”

He knows he messed up because when he started talking she loosened up a little and there was something in her eyes as he spoke softly to her. Now she’s riled up again at just the mention of anything work related.

“Yeah, three of you together is business, don’t mean you,” and she pauses at that. He can hear the whining desperation in his own voice and it disgusts him at how pathetic he sounds. He’s never once come this close to being at someone’s mercy. She’s the first one to have him so low, but then again she’s been a lot of firsts for him—first time he’s let someone that still from him live, first time a suburban mama worked for him, first time he’s let anyone get away with multiple fuck ups. First time he’s actual given a damn about what they’re feeling for him. It’s all so stupid but he still fucking cares even with her pointing his own damn gun at him.

He can hear a door open quietly in the distance like they don’t want them to know they’re there but Elizabeth doesn’t register it.

“That doesn’t ma—” she’s grinding her teeth, nostrils flaring, and he knows what she was about to say was a lie. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I have the F.B.I. in my house; they’re sitting on my couch where I hold my kids at night before they go to bed, and they’re asking so many questions and I—I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what I’m doing but I know, I know, they couldn’t have found out all they know without someone telling them and you know everything because you told me to do it all so I... I don’t know.”

And just like that all the fight goes back inside her, buries its way down into where it sat dormant for all these years, and the gun slowly lowers down until the fear that was trickling its way through his body recedes.

“Okay, ma, but I didn’t say nothing. You think I’d talk to the feds just ‘cause deliveries weren’t made? ‘Cause we ain’t on working terms right now?” He wouldn’t. He would never. Not just because it’s Elizabeth and there’s something there, something he’s praying can switch on and work right, but also because he’s got a whole empire at his feet. She’s barely scratched the surface of everything he does and he ain’t letting it go when there’s a little issue on the side.

She’s looking at him with softer eyes now, eyes slightly wet like she wants to break and cry in front of him but won’t because she’s trying for that boss bitch title he’s been wanting to give her. He’s about to say something, anything, to get his hooks in so he can get the gun from her when she chokes out, “I think you would do anything to keep rotten eggs out,” and he gets it. She thinks she’s just another rotten egg and she’s scared just like she was when she threw the keys at his face. He takes two steps forward before Elizabeth’s eyes dart to something behind him and raises the gun again.

“Mrs. Boland?” Rio knows that voice. He's heard it a lot since Elizabeth entered his life, heard it a little before she was in the picture because this man is like a dog in heat on his ass, always trying to ride it and get anything he can on him.

Elizabeth is staring past his shoulder, eyes trained on Agent Turner and he can see the wheels turning behind her eyes, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

"It's actually Miss Marks now but..." her brows furrow together and she's biting at her bottom lip. Rio doesn't want to take his eyes off her because he can see her index finger stroking at the trigger on the gun. It's hanging down by her side but he knows how quick she can change. "What are you doing here? How—how did you—"

"I didn't know you would be here, Miss Marks," and that has Rio turning around to look at Turner. He's got this concerned look on his face like he's confused about what's going on, but there's something behind his eyes that tells Rio he knows exactly what he's doing and he's planned this out. The corners of his lips are tight likes he's trying not to smile and it riles Rio up—he knows what this asshole is about to do.

He's quick in turning back to Elizabeth and she's already looking at him like it's clicking in her head.

"Don't listen to him—"

"I wasn't aware you were a part of this meeting."

Shit. He got there first.

Her eyes are starting between him and Turner, arm tensing and hand clenching tightly at the grip of the gun; he can see the palm of her hand by her thumb turning white at the pressure and he can feel that fear trickling back into the base of his skull, screaming at him to get out, get out now and run, but he's still the king and this is Elizabeth and she won't shoot him.

It's worrying that each second that passes by he's getting less and less sure about that.

Elizabeth takes two steps back and raises the gun fully, first pointing it at him and then Turner, eyes still darting between them because she doesn't know what's going on.

"I don't know why he's here, ma," he says softly, trying to get her attention with the nickname that's stuck, sounding affectionate and kinder than it's ever been before, "but he ain't here with me. He's lyin', you gotta know that."

He hears a whine works its way out her throat. "But I don't know. I don't." And the gun is slowly making pointed at him.

"So we back here again, huh? Just like before?" He can feel himself grinning because ain't this just the circle of life? Back right where they were before, except this time he doesn't have the upper hand. He's got no cards left to play but he can sure as hell try because there's no way fucking Turner is gonna see him give in to her.

"Miss Marks—Elizabeth—" but Turner is good at this, too; he plays up the concern in his voice and Rio knows that's what does her in. "I need you to put down the gun. You can't use that—"

"I _can_ use it, actually, I just... haven't yet," and yeah, she can use it, and that's what's got him all balled up deep in his gut because he knows she would do anything to keep her kids safe and protected, even if it means shooting him or Turner, maybe both of them. This dumbass fed doesn't understand how far she would go for her family and how far she has gone for them already. All of this (the crime, the bodies, taking all his shit and throwing it back in his face) started with and is about her kids and how to provide the best possible life for them. Sure, somewhere along the way she realised this is something she loves and feeds off of, but the core of why she started hasn't changed. If there's one thing he can definitively say about Elizabeth, it's that she never allows anything to completely change her—she is a constant, unmoving force; a pillar of security and strength throughout the hardest of times. He respects her for that, even if there is nothing else left.

He can feel Turner sliding up just behind him, hovering and vibrating in his skin. It makes Rio jumpy and he doesn't like it, doesn't like this idiot anywhere near Turner when he's trying to act like he's with him, just to fuck with Elizabeth's head a little more.

He can see Turner's hand shaking like he's itching for something. Rio would think he was jonesing for something if he didn't know that the fed is as straight and narrow as they come.

It happens quickly.

Turner lurches forward to grab at the gun in Elizabeth's hand and Rio jumps forward too, but instead he goes to push her away before Turner can grab her and she studied herself by shifting her weight on her feet, straightens her arms and aims. He really wasn't expecting it, didn't know it would happen, wasn't ready for the the resounding—

 _Bang_.

He sees red everywhere, feels warm liquid splatter over him and he's white hot all over his body, and Turner has blood on him too. He's looking at Elizabeth with her mouth gaping open in shock at what's she's done and she takes one, two steps back before she turns and runs. He can hear her kitten heels clicking on the floor over the piercing, high pitch pulsing in his ears.

He looks at Turner and Turner looks at him and they know, they both know, what's about to happen, who won't be walking out of here tonight.

Just like loving Elizabeth was inevitable, this was too.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you guys think!! Criticism is accepted but only if it's constructive. I accept any and all types of praise because I am a major slut for praise.


End file.
